Courtesy of Catholic Online:
Thousands had been drawn to a remote Belgian village to see a glowing statue of the Madonna. While mysterious, the reason behind the statue's glow has since been found. A team of scientists from the science faculty at Liege University found that the statue was glowing in the dark because it had been covered with paint containing zinc sulphide.
"This chemical has a luminous effect and is the reason for the strange light. It's no miracle," Dr. Rudi Cloots, who led the university team said.
Cloots could not explain why it took 15 years before the glow appeared. The paint was applied to the figure at an unknown date.
The statue began glowing in mid-January. Police had to control crowds in the village of Jalhay, near Liege who were eager to touch the figure. The statue reportedly began to glow in the kitchen of an elderly couple's home.
Over 500 people visited the house in one day, eager to pay homage to it.
" Cloots could not explain why it took 15 years before the glow appeared." I'm guessing that's how long it took the people who owned the house before they stumbled upon the idea of how to take advantage of their superstitious neighbors.
But hey just because it was totally phony does not mean it didn't have miraculous properties.
Four visitors to the statue claimed that they had been cured of physical disabilities after being in the presence of the Madonna.
Hmm, I have to wonder what type of "physical disabilities" are cured by touching a fake, glow in the dark, ceramic statue?
Perhaps the miracle was the vast number of morons living so close to this little village.
I’m reluctant to call them liars. This goes under the heading of I Don’t Know.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I not surprised? The ignorance in this country is pitiful.
ReplyDeleteNow I have to go throw up.Thanks Gryph!
Belgium, ignorant? They invented the Belgian Waffle, they're not all that bad.
DeleteThere are paintings in a church in Tampa that glow. I saw them in 1986 or so, before Thomas Kincaid started using luminescent paints. All a scam for the willing believers.
ReplyDeleteA dozen years ago,women in my charismatic catholic mother's circle beleived that the virgin mary was instilling "gold flecks" on them after or while they prayed. One woman in particulat could get the gold to fleck from her palm sweat.
ReplyDeleteTurns out it was minerals in her hand cream and powder makeup causing the gold rush.
My favorite still are the statues in India that drink milk. Let me find and post a link for ya:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiyTogk9kp4
It was explained by scientists as caused by capillary action of the material of the statue.
Sarah Palin Delivers Some Vodka To Putin On 'The Tonight Show' (VIDEO)
ReplyDeletehttp://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/sarah-palin-putin-tonight-show
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1246431/Lakshmi-Tatma-The-little-girl-limbs-worshipped-deity-starts-school.html
ReplyDeleteThen there is this - the indian girl who poor villagers thought was the reincarnation of the 8 limbed goddees Lakshmi. Fascinating story. Thank dog science prevailed!!
Wrong again, Gryphen!
ReplyDeleteYou're entitled your opinion, I suppose, but I feel strongly that she was awesome in Desperately Seeking Susan. Oscar-winning awesome? No, of course not. But still, a pretty decent performance in a mid-80s time-warpy sort of way.
Miracles do occur. Frothy Mix created a "madonna" with magical properties. http://www.pugbus.net/artman/publish/printer_08202006_11_santorum.shtml
ReplyDeleteYep, it's a miracle, I'm convinced it's true!
DeleteThanks for the laughs, Brick!
I'm not surprised...
ReplyDeleteI personally know a woman who falls for every scam that comes along. She's relatively wealthy, so there are LOTS of scams that happen along...
So many, in fact, that I wonder if there isn't some sort of underground "psychic network" sort of thing where they pass her name along?
I'm serious - she gets scammed A LOT.
And SHE would fall - hook, line, and sinker - for a statue that glows in the dark.
She was - I am not making this up - cured by Benny Hinn over the television one day. She woke up, Benny Hinn was on TV, called her name, and told her she was cured of cancer!
And by GOD she WAS!
She went out and walked three miles!
She tended her garden with absolutely NO pain at ALL.
Totally, 100% true!
...the sad fact is: she never HAD CANCER.
She was never diagnosed by any physician as having cancer.
The only person in this world that ever told her she had cancer was
...Benny Hinn!
That very same morning that he cured her!
To this day she believes that she had cancer and that Benny Hinn cured her.
Praise the Lard.
Don't be so hard on Benny Hinn, Randall. One of the great British entertainers of his generation. Every time I see one of those speeded up chase videos, I thank Jeebus for bringing Benny to earth to make us laugh.
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9I4nZx8UCs
Praise the Lard, indeed.
The four miracles are the placebo effect, or the need for attention from four people with nothing better to do. What amazes me is that people actually want to believe something so badly, they totally dismiss any explanation and keep on believing.
ReplyDeleteThere was one a few years back where people swore they saw an image of the madonna in a window with uv film. To me, it looked like oil in a parking lot after it rains. The people who owned the building charged admission to view their "miracle" should have been the first clue.
"The paint was applied to the figure at an unknown date. "
ReplyDeleteWell I believe it is safe to assume that if it started to glow sometime in mid-January that the paint was applied just prior to when the glowing began....
Maybe they blessed the statue with some Peter Popoff's miracle water that they purchased from CBN....
There always is a scientific reason behind every mystery. i am glad that people found that out. this way they can stop believing them blindly. airport parking gatwick
ReplyDelete